I have seen my fair share of ML Python codebases. Distribution is a mess, onboarding new people is a mess. The thing I would says just works is OS level config

I have seen my fair share of ML Python codebases. Distribution is a mess, onboarding new people is a mess. The thing I would says just works is OS level configuration things like Kubernetes or NixOS are proven technology that works and there are enough resources for issues that can be self-debugged instead of opening tickets/ gh issues or reaching out to support. But as these are much complicated technology, you need domain experts and should not pressure ML engineers or data scientists to figure this out. I have seen Python packaging to be such a mess it is easier to teah to Python engineers ML or DS, then ML engineers proper package handling and distribution. The very existence dozens of packaging solutions show that engineer would rather create something from scrath rather work with existing tools.